Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 886

The Moment of Creation is Short and Eternal (6)

Twitch!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, wielding the Gwangryong Axe, froze.

He didn’t turn around. He didn’t need to see to know who was there.

‘Father.’

A smile spread across Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face.

‘I’m relieved.’

It was a change that could only be felt up close. Even the Great Master Gong Gong, the Sword Saint, the Blade Saint, and even his older brother, the White Martial God, wouldn’t have noticed Yeon Wi’s transformation.

Yeon Wi’s transformation was like his character: noble and quiet. It was as if he wasn’t training his martial arts to show off to others. Yeon Wi’s body, receiving a force that could only be described as the energy of the heavens, was changing very subtly.

‘He has finally found his path.’

What did his father see, and what did he realize?

It was unknowable. Yeon Ho-Jeong had transcended the human realm and ascended to the heavens, but he was not a divine being, so he could not see into the hearts of others.

However, he knew what he had to do now.

‘I am me, and Father is Father.’

Why did his father come here? Such questions were meaningless.

Father is Father, and I am me.

And now is now.

Flash!

The Gwangryong Axe slashed diagonally through the air.

A streak of pure white light exploded and then vanished.

It was similar to the Blade Saint’s True Soul Cut, a single, decisive strike. It was a simple move, like Mount Tai pressing down, but the density and manipulation of energy were beyond imagination, boasting an invincible power that could not be avoided or blocked.

‘Yes, this is it.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s left hand was not holding the shaft of the Gwangryong Axe. Like a fluttering sleeve following his rotating body, it was freely caressing the air.

His right hand, holding the shaft, was filled with immense power.

Bang!

In an instant, lightning that had painted the sky white zigzagged down and struck the ground.

Having used up most of his divine energy in the upper realm and his inner energy in the middle and lower realms, he couldn’t unleash as much power as he wanted. However, like the Blade Saint’s Soul Cut, the lightning, drawing a faint curve, became faster than a straight line, creating a furrow in the ground.

He didn’t aim for speed, yet it was faster than anything else. It was a terrifying slash that cut and destroyed everything in its path.

Flash! Flash! Flash!

Each time the Gwangryong Axe cut through the air, Yeon Ho-Jeong’s moves became frighteningly precise.

It was not a form of axe techniques, but a form of energy. He had already reached the pinnacle of external forms. All the moves he executed were focused on how complex, precise, and abundant the movement of energy could be.

All rivers flow to the sea. Though the beginnings may be diverse, they all converge into one in the end. Similarly, mastering ten thousand techniques eventually leads to simplicity.

However, that is not the end.

What do you put into that simplified movement? How do you infuse it with energy, soul, and will? That is the trial for those who have reached the place where Yeon Ho-Jeong stood.

Now, Yeon Ho-Jeong was witnessing that trial, fighting against himself, and creating a martial art that was true to himself.

‘Before reaching the Yellow Dragon [a high level of martial arts mastery], I focused on how practically I could wield the Gwangryong Axe.’

Swinging a giant axe weighing over eighty pounds like a reed was not something that even the most powerful martial artists could easily do.

Yeon Ho-Jeong could do it. In a way, it was a remnant of his time as the Dark Emperor, and it was also the result of pushing what he was best at to the limit.

‘I was wrong.’

That shouldn’t have been the case.

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had now absorbed the enlightenment of the Dark Emperor, could see it.

‘The implementation of such dynamic and destructive moves was right for me then, but it is not right for me now.’

Then, how could Yeon Ho-Jeong’s martial arts be defined in one word?

Strength.

Not just martial arts that are simply hard and destructive, but something that symbolizes the concept of strength itself. That is why the Yellow Dragon can be soft, fast, slow, or gentle.

Then, what about the martial arts of the Dark Emperor era?

‘Technique.’

The technique that had reached its limit was almost like art.

The Dark Emperor’s technique, which had reached its peak, was so refined that it could even destroy enlightenment. At first glance, it didn’t seem much different from the martial arts of a supreme master.

However, if you delved deeper, it was filled with delicate skills that were incomparable to any other master. In terms of technique alone, it was clearly the best in the world.

‘That’s why I couldn’t reach the Yellow Dragon.’

His teacher had said,

‘When you advance and go through the process of refining martial arts and reach the extreme, the forms become extremely simple. The subtlety of energy will replace them.’

The inner energy, enlightenment, and technique of the Dark Emperor era were, without exaggeration, at their limit.

However, it was not the extreme. When discussing the level of a martial artist, it was the highest level, but he had not reached the extreme of the martial arts he had cultivated.

Conversely, Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had obtained the Yellow Dragon, had not honed his inner energy, enlightenment, and technique as sharply as he had during his time as the Dark Emperor.

However, he had reached the extreme of martial arts. That is why the forms became simple, and he naturally turned his attention to the manipulation of energy.

And now, after his fight with the Blade Saint, he had even embraced the enlightenment of the Dark Emperor.

‘The ultimate skill is to preserve the most natural form.’

What is the form of the Golden Dragon’s True Fist?

The forms are not complex at all. If you asked children on the street to imitate it, nine out of ten could roughly follow it after seeing it two or three times. It was that simple.

The Golden Dragon’s Sky Piercing Palm was the same. Although it included softer and more flexible movements, it was also not complex at all.

The most natural and simple forms of the fist and palm. That was the Golden Dragon’s Martial Arts.

Then, what about the Gwangryong Axe?

How should the Black and White Dragon Axes be wielded?

‘An axe should be wielded like an axe.’

Flash!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, holding the shaft with both hands, executed the simple movement of the Horizontal Sweep of a Thousand Armies.

In that instant, he saw it. A vision of thousands of soldiers falling like autumn leaves with a single swing of the axe.

‘This is it.’

The Gwangryong Axe should be heavy and simple.

The Black and White Twin Dragon Axes should be fast and simple.

And with the power to cut and destroy everything.

‘This is…!’

That was when it happened.

Whoosh!

Yeon Ho-Jeong could feel a force like lightning approaching from behind.

Clang!

A tremendous resonance erupted.

What struck the horizontally swung Gwangryong Axe was a treasured sword.

At first glance, it looked like a slightly wide and thick, ordinary longsword, but within it was contained intense divine energy, the ultimate metal energy, and a terrifying artistic spirit.

It was the Heavenly Empire Sword. It was a divine sword imbued with the national destiny that the owner of this land had forged with resentment and wisdom over the long years.

And the person holding that divine sword was none other than Yeon Wi.

‘Father.’

Surprise flickered across Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face.

Yeon Wi’s eyes were closed. With his eyes closed, he had simply swung his sword naturally.

It just so happened that he was there.

Soon, Yeon Ho-Jeong realized. His father was not aware of him right now. He was simply fighting against a virtual opponent within himself, trying to accept an enlightenment that was very much like the Judge’s Sword.

Chiring!

Yeon Ho-Jeong shook off the Gwangryong Axe. Then, Yeon Wi’s Imperial Sword was also knocked back.

Stepping back, the two of them rushed towards each other as if they had agreed to it.

Chiriring! Clang! Clang!

It was a light sound, a beautiful resonance.

The Imperial Sword, which had collided with a heavy weapon weighing over eighty pounds, did not have a single scratch. Rather, it was amazing that it was emitting a clear sword cry even though it was colliding with the thick axe blade.

The Gwangryong Axe was the same. Despite its size, which overwhelmed the Imperial Sword, it was showing a very light movement.

Energy was not needed. There was no need to force energy into it and confirm its power with the naked eye.

Yeon Ho-Jeong realized it. Because of his father, and no one else.

Chiririring!

The axe and sword made light sounds.

They were swinging their weapons at each other, but there was not a trace of killing intent or fighting spirit.

They treated their actual opponent as a virtual one, swinging and colliding once, and then again. With that simple and peaceful act, Yeon Ho-Jeong was able to create four forms of axe techniques.

Then, what about Yeon Wi?

‘It’s high.’

Yeon Wi was standing in front of a giant golden sword tower. And he was striking the sword tower with his sword, absorbing one by one what he had accumulated.

‘I have built something so high.’

He had accumulated treasures. Treasures that could not be exchanged for anything.

All the sword intent he had trained and realized throughout his life had become a golden tower, alive and breathing within him.

That golden tower was shouting.

Why did you come only now?

It was upset that he had ignored it, when he could have embraced it and flown higher, when he wanted to see more in the unknown world.

At the same time, Yeon Wi realized. The reason why the Mind Sword had been so stubborn.

‘The Mind Sword is also me. The Mind Sword was upset with me. It hated me.’

Yeon Wi sighed.

‘In other words, I ignored and hated myself.’

He had raised his children well. That was the end of his greatest goal in life.

However, his life was not going to end there.

His talent, his efforts, and his upright heart, which had been trained to the limit, were not so insignificant that they would end there.

If it was the destiny of parents to raise their children as well as others, then Yeon Wi’s destiny as a martial artist and the head of the Yeon family was different.

‘For the completion of martial arts.’

He was born as the child of a martial arts family, but it was himself who loved the sword and martial arts.

He had never once considered martial arts to be a nuisance. Rather, when he dreamed of reaching a higher level, his heart would flutter as it had when he first held his wife’s hand.

‘I have accepted martial arts.’

A smile appeared around Yeon Wi’s eyes.

‘I love the sword.’

Kugugugung!

The Imperial Sword struck the golden sword tower dozens, hundreds of times.

Each time, the sword tower sank at a terrifying speed. Yeon Wi had begun to accept his past realizations.

And finally.

Thud!

When Yeon Ho-Jeong completed the last seven forms of axe techniques with a simple strike.

‘……?!’

A woman was visible in the place where the golden sword tower had been.

A slender body with beautiful hands. Her white skin and elegant smile were so beautiful.

On the woman’s forehead and around her eyes were Ho-Jeong.

On the woman’s chin and mouth were Ji-Pyeong.

And in the woman’s eyes was Yeon Wi, himself.

‘My love.’

His partner of three lifetimes, whom he had not forgotten for a single day since the day they first met.

And for Yeon Wi, martial arts had never left his side, just like that partner.

‘Is it okay?’

He had lived his whole life abandoning himself to become a great husband to his wife who had gone ahead. There was only a future for his parents, not for Yeon Wi.

But not anymore.

He had to bury his wife who had gone ahead in his heart and move forward again as a dignified martial artist.

That was the path that he, his wife, and his children all wanted.

‘May I forget you for a while, until I live a wonderful life and go to your side?’

The woman smiled brightly and nodded.

Tears flowed from Yeon Wi’s eyes.

He slowly closed his eyes.

Woo Woong!!

In the place where the woman had disappeared.

A sword of judgment was engraved.

The best sword in the world, capable of decisively cutting down all that is wicked and evil in the world.

Yeon Wi opened his eyes.

Flash!

In his newly opened eyes, the sky was finally reflected.

It was the moment when a swordsman who had shed the skin of a troubled human being stepped into the realm of a martial god.